Breeding and training dogs is an occupation requiring special knowledge and expertise. Great amounts of time, effort and money are spent each year in raising high quality, productive dogs for home, show and work. Working dogs include Police and Seeing Eye dogs for the handicapped.
Traditionally, placement of puppies depends on the genetic make-up, personality, intelligence and abilities of each individual puppy. This is especially true of show and work dogs. However, it is difficult to ascertain the level of skill and intelligence possessed by a puppy when it is weaned from the litter.
Normally, when a litter is born, the puppies remain with the mother until they are seven to eight weeks old. During this time, puppies receive little or no training. Meanwhile, as the puppies grow and develop, valuable training time is lost. As a result, when formal training is instituted after the seventh week, puppies learn more slowly and higher training costs are incurred. To date, breeders and trainers have absorbed this lost time. The present apparatus and method begins to develop such critical traits as: personality, disposition, agility and balance as early as the third week of a puppy's life, reducing the time and expense of training.